The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has announced the first set of candidates who are to contest in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra on Tuesday. The list includes candidatures of Daniel Ramesh Landge from Vadgaonsheri in Pune, Mufti Mohammed Ismail Abdul Khaliq from Malegaon Central and Mohd. Feroz Khan from Nanded North. The Maharashtra Assembly elections are to be held in October. In the previous election in 2014, BJP and Shiv Sena formed the majority with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister. 

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AIMIM split with VBA ahead of elections 

Earlier, the AIMIM had walked out on the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by Prakash Ambedkar. Both the parties apparently had a conflict over seat-sharing. However, the VBA stated that they have not received an official notice or had any kind of communication with the AIMIM. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the VBA played a crucial role in defeating the alliance of Congress-NCP. 

READ: Maharashtra Elections: VBA To Contest State Polls Without Congress

Maharashtra Assembly elections 

As per sources, the BJP and the Shiv Sena have also begun talks over seat-sharing. This comes ahead of Maharashtra elections 2019. In the recent meeting held between senior Shiv Sena leaders Subhash Desai and Prakash Patil and the BJP Minister Girish Mahajan, the Sena demanded more seats as they sought for the next chief ministerial candidate from the Sena. However, the BJP notified that it would contest on 160 seats, Shiv Sena on 110 and remaining seats were to be reserved for smaller ally-parties.

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On the other hand, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are to contest the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections together. The INC and the NCP have been in an alliance since 1999. Over the past few weeks, leaders of both parties have met on multiple occasions to discuss seat sharing. INC has 36 seats in the opposition whereas Sharad Pawar led NCP has 32 seats.

READ: Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Pawar-Sonia Chalk Out Seat-sharing Plan